InuKindergarten
by ChibiHyperMouse
Summary: An AU story in which InuYasha, Kagome, and most others, are all four to six year olds attending Kindergarten. An adorable little fluffy story. Collab of Chibi Blue Mouse and Hyperpegasi
1. Chapter 1: Cooties

**A/N: Hello! I'm Chibi Blue Mouse**

**And I'm Hyperpegasi!**

**C: This story came about while we were messaging each other and I brought up this idea one day.**

**H: And then, I loved the idea so much Chibi eventually proposed a collaboration. **

**C: Hee. ****:)**** I'm very happy she agreed to the collab. I never could have written such an awesome story on my own. She adds in a very lovely flavor to the storytelling.**

**H: Aww, I'm blushing! Flavor, maybe, but the story mostly comes from her: honestly! I enjoy working with her, and I hope you all enjoy what we've worked together to create! =)**

**C: And now, without further ado, we do not own InuYasha, but please enjoy this adorable story we whipped up together! :)**

Chapter 1: Cooties

Kagome Higurashi, four years old, clung to her mother's skirt, staring out from behind her mother's legs as they stood at the house of their new neighbors. Seeing that there was a doorbell to be rung, and a shiny button to be pushed, Kagome darted out from behind her mother's legs and stretched as high as she could: barely able to reach high enough to push the button. It sounded off a rather loud chime; one that could be heard from where Kagome and her mother stood.

Startled by the sudden chime, Kagome dashed back behind the safety of her mother's skirt, once again gaining a death grip on the fabric. Her mother's soft laughter brought a small smile to the young girl's face though she only buried herself further into the safety of the skirt.

The door opened and an elegantly dressed, smiling woman with long black hair was revealed. She seemed slightly surprised seeing Kagome's mother. "May I help you?" she asked politely.

Kagome's mother smiled back and moved to the side slightly to reveal the shy, young girl whose black hair fell slightly past her shoulders as she lifted her head to look curiously at the woman who had answered the door.

Though Kagome's mother had been preparing to introduce herself and her daughter, the woman suddenly gained a look of understanding. "Oh! You must be the Higurashis! My oldest son saw your daughter while we were moving in yesterday!" She then smiled as she crouched down to Kagome's height. "You're quite the curious youngster aren't you?" she cooed. Without getting up, the woman looked up at Kagome's mother, smiling. "You know, I've got a little one about her age."

Suddenly, she stood up, a look of mortification on her face. "My goodness where are my manners? Come in! Come in! Listen to me, chattering away while you stand out here." she laughed cheerfully as she gestured for the two to come in.

Kagome's mother smiled as she thanked the other for her hospitality, ushering Kagome into the house. The young girl's thumb found her way into her mouth as she looked around, wide-eyed, at the large house.

"My name's Izayoi. My husband's away on business: he left yesterday after we finished moving in. He'll be back soon. Sesshoumaru's somewhere around the house, he's going through a phase right now, acting all anti-social. Oh! And InuYasha's playing in the backyard! Would you like to go play with him, sweetheart?" Izayoi asked, looking once more at Kagome.

Unsure of how to respond, Kagome just nodded dumbly, her thumb still firmly in her mouth.

"It's right through there," Izayoi gestured with a smile.

Kagome gave her mother one last look before rushing skittishly out the indicated door. Her mother laughed gently, handing the other woman the covered dish she'd been carrying. "Children are always so lively," Mrs. Higurashi stated with a smile.

Izayoi responded in kind. "Truly. Inuyasha has so much energy: He runs me ragged sometimes." Izayoi looked at Kagome's mother with THAT gleam in her eye. "I think we'll be great friends."

Mama smiled genially, nodding as she confirmed, "Of course. It's never to early to think of grandchildren."

The two women shared a laugh as they headed towards the kitchen, chatting, as mothers are apt to.

-0-0-

After Kagome went through the door Izayoi had suggested, she found herself face to face with an odd sight. A young boy, dressed all in red - with long silver hair, which fell almost to his knees - was playing with a ball, throwing it against the fence and running back quickly to catch the rebound just before it hit the ground. But what really captivated Kagome was the fact that the little boy had _ears_.

Kagome had never seen a person with ears like that before. They sat on the top of his head, white little triangles. Like the ears of a dog. Tilting her head, her thumb still in her mouth, she wondered if they were as soft as they looked. She really wanted to touch them.

Just then, however, the boy seemed to notice that she was there and he turned, glaring at the intruder. Kagome's eyes widened. She had never seen eyes of his coloring either! She had only seen that color on one of her mother's really pretty jewelry. Something her mother called, 'gold'.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" he asked, clutching his ball close to him as though he was afraid that she'd come to take it away from him.

However, Kagome had a question of her own. Taking her thumb out of her mouth, since her mother had told her to never speak with her mouth full, her eyes wandered to the top of the boy's head. "Are those real?" she asked softly.

The boy frowned. "Are what real?" he asked.

"Your ears . . ."

The boy scoffed. "Keh. Of course they're real! See!" He purposely twitched his ears.

Kagome's eyes widened in awe. "Can I touch them?" she asked, moving forwards towards the boy.

The boy instantly jumped back. "No! You have cooties!"

Her timid disposition forgotten, little Kagome responded to the accusation with a glare of her own. "I do NOT! Everyone knows that _boys_ are the ones with cooties!" She crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out at the boy. "I didn't want to touch your yucky boy ears anyway!" Turning her back on the now gaping hanyou, Kagome marched back through the doorway.

She was stopped by a sniffle from behind her. Unsure if her hearing had been correct, Kagome turned back to the boy, whose face was now shadowed by his bangs. His claw-tipped fingers were digging into his little palms, drawing blood already.

"Hey..." Kagome said stepping forward meekly. She wasn't the kind of girl who liked hurting people's feelings - but her temper got the best of her sometimes.

His head shot up teary, golden eyes furious. "My ears aren't STUPID," he said defensively. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he cut her off. "You don't know nothin' anyway! You're just a stupid human girl! And you do SO have cooties!"

Kagome's apology died in her throat, and she felt her temper rising up again. "I do NOT!"

"Do SO! DO SO!" The boy retorted. "Have you had your cootie shot?"

Kagome opened her mouth to respond and then blinked, closing it again as her temper faded away. "What's a cootie shot?" she asked curiously.

The boy looked triumphant. "If you don't know what a cootie shot is, then you've never had one! So you have cooties!"

Kagome's eyes widened and then narrowed, refusing to believe that the other didn't have cooties. "W-well . . . Have YOU had a cootie shot?" she asked, glaring at the other.

The boy's chest puffed out with pride. "Yep! My big brother gave it to me!"

Kagome looked down at the ground before looking up at the hanyou with wide eyes. "Um . . . Can . . . Can he give me a cootie shot too?" she asked, not wanting to have the cooties.

The boy eyed her with a smirk: he obviously knew he'd won. "Why should I?" He taunted.

For a moment, all Kagome could do was scowl at him. What a _brat! _But an idea struck her, and she felt an evil smile break out across her face. If he was going to worry about cooties, then Kagome was gonna give something to worry ABOUT.

"'Cuz if you doooooooo~n't," she threatened, stepping forward - trying to be sneaky about it. "I'LL GIVE YOU COOTIES!" She whooped, rushing forward with a laugh.

His eyes widened comically as he scrambled back with an undignified shriek. "NOOOOOOO!" He wailed, fleeing from the cooties he was sure she'd infect him with. The chase looped them around the yard twice before InuYasha dived through the doorway she had originally emerged from.

Even though cooties were a serious matter, it was beginning to feel more an more like a game. Even as he fled, the hanyou couldn't help but grin. It'd been a long time since he'd had so much fun. Kagome followed the hanyou into the house, laughing cheerfully as she chased the other.

"Sess! This weird girl's gonna give me cooties!" the boy cried out as he headed to his brother's room, barging in and hiding behind the other, who regarded his younger brother coolly, merely raising one eyebrow in response.

Kagome dashed in after the boy and instantly skidded to a stop as she saw the rather imposing demon glaring down at her. Her good humor had vanished and her thumb had returned quickly to her mouth.

The hanyou quickly noticed that the other was frightened, which hadn't been his intent at all. He looked up at his brother. "Sess, stop scaring her."

Eyebrow still quirked, the demon appraised the human before him. She was startled by his demeanor, but she faced him bravely: for a four year old.

"Cooties?" Sesshoumaru's composure slipped - just a bit - and amusement laced the boredom in his voice.

The word seemed foreign coming from him, but it made him slightly less scary, in Kagome's opinion. So she nodded mutely, watching him with wide eyes.

InuYasha - sensing that everything was okay, for now - tugged on the hem of his brother's haori."Can you give her the cootie shot, Sess? I don't wanna catch 'em from her!"

Sesshomaru sighed and then crouched down to the height of his half-brother and his brother's . . . young friend. Grabbing a permanent marker off his desk he held out his hand. "May I see your arm?" he asked politely.

Kagome's eyes darted quickly to the hanyou to see if it was safe and at the small nod, she held out her arm.

The older demon drew two circles on Kagome's forearm and then added a dot inside each of the circles. "There." he said, capping the marker.

InuYasha, however, frowned. "Sess! You did it wrong! You didn't say the rhyme and! And when you did it on me you used your claws and not a stupid _marker_!"

Though Kagome was frightened by the mention of claws, Sesshomaru ignored that completely and looked down at his younger brother. "InuYasha, what are you?"

"Demon?" The boy said as he tilted his head curiously, not sure of what his older brother was getting at.

"Half-demon." Sesshomaru corrected but didn't seem to really mean anything by it. "And what is she?"

InuYasha looked at Kagome and then back to Sesshomaru. "Demon?" he asked again.

Sesshomaru frowned. "Use your nose. What is your mother?"

"Human." The boy answered dutifully.

"And what am I?"

"Sess is the bestest brother ever!" InuYasha said, his face lighting up in adoration.

A small smile snuck onto Sesshomaru's face before he banished it and frowned. "I am a demon. Who does this girl smell more like?"

InuYasha looked over at Kagome again who had gotten bored of their conversation and was currently inspecting her 'cootie shot'. "Mama?" he asked.

"Which means?" Sesshomaru asked.

"She's a . . . human?"

"Correct. And what has Father told you about humans?" Sesshomaru asked once more.

"They're fragile." InuYasha responded dutifully.

"Now you know why I didn't use my claws this time. You heal quickly, she does not."

InuYasha nodded in understanding before frowning again. "But you still didn't say the rhyme!"

Sesshomaru glared down at his brother. "This Sesshomaru will not recite such a childish rhyme in front of a human."

InuYasha pouted. "Fine . . . I'll say it then." he said and went back to Kagome and took her arm, carefully tracing the pattern with his finger. "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you have a cootie shot."

Kagome removed her thumb from her mouth and grinned. Tentatively, InuYasha returned the smile.

Then she attacked. With a squeal of mirth, she lunged for her original interest: the half-breed's ears. The toddler squawked indignantly as he attempted to avoid the sudden unexpected assault.

His attempt to dodge her failed, though, and they both toppled to the floor: Kagome sitting triumphantly atop him as she rubbed his triangular appendages.

"Thank you for the cootie shot," she hummed happily. "Your ears are so cute!"

InuYasha was too stunned to respond. Nobody but his mama had touched his ears before. The weird girl just kept getting weirder!

Sesshoumaru - who had obviously been forgotten for the moment - decided to take his book and go elsewhere. Toddlers were too energetic, in his opinion: he'd had more than his fill of them for the day.

"I'm K'gome Higuwashi." She announced after a moment, giving up the entertainment provided by his ears to move off of him as she offered her pudgy little toddler hand for a shake.

InuYasha blinked at the hand and carefully put his hand into Kagome's. "I-InuYasha Taisho." he muttered softly.

Kagome smiled and then hugged the hanyou. "Nice to meet you! You're my new friend!" she said cheerfully.

The sudden hug and declaration of friendship shocked InuYasha, but he smiled and hugged the other back. He wasn't sure about Kagome, but he liked the idea of having a friend.


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

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A/N: Hello again!

C: Wow, such wonderful feedback from so many! Hee. Makes me happy. :)

H: She's not the only one! I'm literally doing a little dance on my end. I have to say, though: I'm rather glad you lot can't see me, because my dancing sucks. =)

C: So . . . Shall we respond to our reviewers? Which should we start with?

H: It seems only fair to respond to our very first reviewer first, ne, Chibi?

C: That . . . makes sense. Okay! Our first review is from brz.

H: brz - Thanks for reviewing, to start. It's fun to write, and we have definite plans to keep it going. I also love these types of stories; that's why I was so psyched to work with Chibi to create this.

C: Hee. InuYasha is quite huggable. And I find that taking experiences from memories of what happened when I was young help make the story a little more adorable and relatable and all that fun stuff. So, I'm not surprised you've heard of the cootie shot thing before.

H: Our second reviewer is Luvandia.

C: Luvandia - Thanks for the compliment, though I'm sure your story's still quite good. :) And yes, Sessh acted like an older brother, but only because in this story Izayoi and Inu-Papa aren't dead and so they can make sure he takes care of his younger sibling. AU is a wonderful place to write in. XD

H: ^-^ Eh, Chibi stole what I was gonna say. Darn. Um, wisdom from the ... Hyper... Don't knock your own story, because I'm sure it's lovely! And... No, I think Chibi covered it. Gotta love AUs and reformed Sessh!

C: Our next review is from edasama.

H: edasama - Why thanks. ^-^ There were a few occasions writing it that we did have to just stop and squeal for a few moments. I think we should keep up a pretty good pace with updates, because we get stuff done pretty quickly between the two of us. =D

C: Indeed. There was a point where was both just melted from the adorable cuteness and stuff. Really, bouncing ideas off of each other really helps further the story and can just lead to so much cuteness.

H: And the next review is from my sister, BlueForestAngelCat. =)

C: BlueForestAngelCat - . . . Um . . . Hello Hyper's sister. I'm Chibi Blue Mouse. Yep. I think that review was more aimed at you, Hyper.

H: Uh, lol I guess it was. We're working on it, and we should keep up a pretty fair pace. Unlike some people who never update. =P

C: Hey! I'm working on my other stories! I've just got writer's block is all . . . . Pyuun.

H: *whistles innocently* Didn't mean nothin' by it... ;D

C: . Innocent whistle makes me suspicious. (hiss) Anyways, our next reviewer is from Novalia1001.

H: Sorry, Chibi... I'll play nice again. =)  
Novalia1001 - =D Thanks. I'm glad you think that we're doing a good job. And as for that line... almost a notorious sense I got from Mama Higurashi, I believe. I distinctly recall her wondering if her grandbabies would have Inu's ears... XD

C: Yeah, having someone help you bounce off character development and story ideas and give critique as you're writing really helps to make a good story. And yes, that line was all Hyperpegasi's. I laughed when I read it.

H: =) And our final review is from InuDemoness1525.

C: InuDemoness1525 - :) Hee. Thank you! We're trying!

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H: I think the general _plan_ is to overload the audience with cute. And have a lovely plot full of fluff and hugs and I'm rambling... Lets get to the story, ne, Chibi?

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C: Indeed. And without further ado, we no own so you no sue! :)

Chapter 2: Friends

Kagome and InuYasha quickly moved their playing to InuYasha's room; where they built a little town out of some blocks that InuYasha had in his toy chest. Kagome then pretended that she was a giant and had come to destroy the town. InuYasha used a wooden sword and ran 'the giant' off and saved the town. Then they both had fun as Kagome made a sneak attack in revenge and slid right into the town, knocking down half the buildings as she giggled and laughed, sparking a bout of InuYasha ranting how sneak attacks weren't fair.

"I defeated you! You're supposed to _stay_ defeated!"

Kagome giggled some more. "The bad guy always comes back for revenge," she said, trying to obtain a serious tone and failing as she was continuously overcome by giggles.

InuYasha pouted, sitting down, destroying some buildings in the process. "Yeah well . . . you didn't have to attack the town." he muttered sulkily.

Kagome got a mischievous gleam in her eye. "Really?" she asked and suddenly pounced once more for InuYasha's ears. However, she missed a bit this time since InuYasha started to move as he realized what she had been intending to do. She wound up hugging him from behind. Deciding to make the best of the situation, she reached up and started rubbing his ear, which was twitching as though trying to get away from her fingers.

"What's with you and attacking my ears all the time?" InuYasha grumbled, trying to glare at the girl on his back.

Kagome smiled as she leaned around to look at the hanyou. "They're really cute!" she said cheerfully.

InuYasha stiffened and blushed at the comment. No one had ever called his ears . . . 'cute' before . . . And Kagome was actually gentle with his ears, where as others who had ever gotten a hold of them besides his family often tugged them harshly.

A yawn brought his attention back to the girl whose hands had relinquished their hold on his ears. He turned, puzzled. "Are you okay?" he asked, noticing that Kagome's eyelids were starting to droop and the abundant amount of energy she had been displaying earlier was absent.

Kagome nodded, and yawned again, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sleepy . . ." she murmured, laying down where she sat and curling up as she closed her eyes.

InuYasha blinked and then, after a moment's thought, he removed the red robe of the fire rat that he wore and draped it over the tired girl, watching as one of her hands moved out and gently closed into a fist around the fabric.

Her breathing grew slow and even and InuYasha sat down by her, holding onto his wooden sword, staring down at the girl, determined to watch over her as she slept.

"Have you already got them enrolled?" Mama Higurashi inquired politely, taking a sip of her tea.

"Mm," Izayoi affirmed over her own cup. "I've already spoken to their teachers; particularly InuYasha's... I worry for him sometimes." She paused to take a sip of the steaming liquid. "He tends to get picked on a lot. He's never really been able to make friends." She smiled happily. "I have a feeling your Kagome may change that, though."

Mama smiled in return, her eyes crinkling merrily at the corners. "Speaking of Kagome... We really should be getting home. Tomorrow will be their first day in school together."

Izayoi blinked, and turned to look out the window: the sun was already dipping below the horizon. "Oh, you're right. How did it get it be so late?" she exclaimed lightly. "Well, let's go get the kids, then. They've probably already fallen asleep somewhere."

-0-0-

"I'm sure they're in here... I wonder why the lights are off?"

The soft sound of footsteps, accompanied by his mother's whisper, caused little white ears to perk. However, InuYasha did not move from his 'guard' position, even as the two women entered the room on tip-toes.

He knew his mother, of course, and after a moment he discerned - from her scent - that the other woman was Kagome's mother.

"Kagome?" The unfamiliar woman called. He knew it was her mom, but he growled a little anyway before he could really think better of it.

"InuYasha, sweetheart? Are you awake?" His mother soothed quietly, in the direction of his bed.

"You can turn the light on if you want, mama." There was amusement in his voice: his silly human mother couldn't see in the dark, he knew, but he wasn't anywhere CLOSE to the bed.

Izayoi jumped a bit, obviously startled. "Oh. Okay, sweetie." She backed up a few steps, tracing the wall to find the light switch.

InuYasha blinked a little as the lights came on, glancing over at his sleeping friend to make sure she hadn't been disturbed. He nodded to himself, satisfied that she was still soundly asleep.

He looked up, blinking his large gold eyes solemnly at the two maternal figures. "K'gome fell 'sleep while we was playing. I asked Sess t' turn the light off so she wouldn't get woke'd up." The toddler explained frankly.

Mama and Izayoi shared a huge smile that InuYasha didn't quite understand, but they smelled happy, so he didn't bother trying to figure it out.

"What are _you_ doing, InuYasha?" Laughter bubbled under his mother's question, but InuYasha was very serious when he answered.

"I'm guarding my friend. If I'm watching, the boogey-man can't get her."

The mothers shared that look again, and InuYasha wasn't sure whether or not to be offended.

"K'gome said we're gonna be best friends; so I gotta protect her and stuff, like Daddy told me," he said somewhat defensively.

Kagome's mother smiled as she approached her sleeping daughter and the young girl's 'protector'. Smiling bemusedly, she knelt down in front of the young hanyou. "And you've done a wonderful job of protecting her, but now it's time for Kagome to go home." she said, reaching out to gently pet the ears of the hanyou. Like her daughter, she had been fascinated by the adorable dog ears on InuYasha's head and, like her daughter, Mama could not help but wonder if they were as soft as they looked.

InuYasha growled a little, but allowed the petting since she was Kagome's mother. "No. I gotta protect her." he said stubbornly, not wanting his new best friend to leave.

Mama smiled, but Izayoi beat her to the chase. "InuYasha, sweetheart, I know you want to protect her, but Kagome's place is with her mother."

"Like your place is with Papa?" InuYasha inquired, tilting his head to one side.

Izayoi smiled. "Kind of like that. You wouldn't want to take Kagome away from her place would you?"

InuYasha's ears drooped a little. "No . . ." he muttered, sad that Kagome had to leave.

Mama took that as permission to take her daughter and she gently lifted the little girl up, pausing mid lift as she saw that the red coat that had been draped over her had fallen down, but part of it was still clutched in Kagome's hand. Mama smiled and gently pried the fabric out of her daughter's clutches and held it out to InuYasha. "Is this yours?" she asked softly.

InuYasha nodded and took the coat back, putting it on, wrinkling his nose slightly. His robe of the fire rat had soaked up Kagome's scent. Not that it was unpleasant, but he didn't want to smell like a girl . . .

Mama lifted the sleeping girl up into her arms and then turned to Izayoi. "I suppose we'll see you tomorrow then?" she asked with a smile.

Izayoi grinned. "You can count on it." she responded, quite glad that Kagome had made friends with her son. Now to start planning for grandchildren . . .

Suddenly, Izayoi brightened. "You wouldn't mid it if they walked to school together, would you? Sesshoumaru could drop them off on his way, and it would give them more time together."

Mama brightened equally, smile forming before the statement had even finished. "Kagome would love that; as long as it wouldn't impose on Sesshoumaru, of course."

Izayoi waved it off, hoisting InuYasha up on her hip. "Oh, he won't mind."

InuYasha smiled a little at the prospect, and he didn't even mind when his mom dropped a kiss on his hair. Much.

He snuggled a little to his mother's shoulder, blinking drowsily as they walked Kagome's mother to the door.

"Bye, Mrs. Higu-" He yawned loudly, and the rest sounded somewhat garbled, "-wAaashiii..."

Mrs. Higurashi gave him a smile, patting his shoulder maternally. "Goodnight, InuYasha. I'll drop Kagome off in the morning, 'kay?"

The toddler nodded sleepily, mumbling something that neither mother could make out.

Mama laughed quietly, and the two mothers exchanged their quiet good-byes before setting off to put their respective toddlers to bed.

-0-0-

The next morning, Kagome was dressed in her school uniform, excited about the prospect of going to Kindergarten and making friends, and better yet, her mother said that InuYasha was in the same class as her! So even as she held onto her mother's hand as they made their way next door, she was near bursting with energy as she jumped over any cracks in the sidewalks that she came across. Under her breath, she sang softly, "Don't step on a crack or you'll fall and break your back. Don't step on a line or you'll fall and break your spine."

Even if she didn't quite avoid all the lines and cracks in the sidewalk, she was still grinning from ear to ear. Knowing she was going to go to school with InuYasha was fun!

From the living room window, InuYasha watched the sidewalk, his face pressed up against the glass. "MAMA! MAMA! K'gome and Mrs. Higuwashi are comin'!" he called excitedly and quickly ran to his room to grab his backpack his mother had bought just for Kindergarten.

"Yes, yes." Izayoi sighed out, smiling patiently. "Now calm down and eat your breakfast," she said, pointing to the unfinished plate of waffles, eggs, and bacon. All that was left of the bacon were crumbs, and the eggs were nearly polished off too, but the waffles remained virtually untouched. Izayoi knew her son was a definite carnivore, but she at least tried to give him a balanced breakfast.

"Now, I've packed an apple in your lunch. And there's some warm water in a thermos; as well as that ramen you enjoy so much," she listed as she watched her son sit down and finish his breakfast dutifully, though he ate the waffles reluctantly.

And then the doorbell rang.

"THEY'RE HERE!" InuYasha shouted excitedly, rushing to open the door, knocking over his chair in his hurry.

Izayoi sighed and looked at the plate once more. "Well . . . at least he ate half his waffle." she muttered, as she picked up the fallen chair.

"Sesshoumaru, honey, the Higurashis are here. Are you ready to go?"

Her stepson responded with a cold glare, and she was halfway certain the boy growled a little as he made his way down the stairs.

Izayoi hid a smile. "Now, now, Sesshy, perk up! It's your first day of school here, and you'll only have to deal with them for a little bit."

'Sesshy' gave her a look that could freeze lava, somehow managing to look imposing with a backpack slung over his shoulders. Of course, Izayoi responded with a smile, more amused than anything.

"Sess, c'mon!" InuYasha had dragged Kagome inside to see what the hold-up was. "We're gonna be late! K'gome is already here!"

With a resigned sigh, Sesshoumaru grabbed the lunch-bag from his step-mother's outstretched hand. "Very well. Let us go, then."

The toddlers cheered, grinning as they rushed out the door.

"Bye, mama!"  
"Bye, mother!"

The duo chimed, waving over their shoulders as they took off down the sidewalk.

Izayoi and Mama waved back, smiling indulgently. "Buhbye!" They called back together, followed by the typical, "Have a good day!" and "Look both ways before you cross the street!"

Sesshoumaru recited ten reasons why he hated people under his breath as he followed the energetic children at a more reasonable pace.

"I'm so x'cited!" Kagome squealed when their mothers were finally out of view. She slowed down a little, glomping InuYasha as she hummed a happy tune. "We're gonna be in the same class and ev'rythin!"

InuYasha grinned, amused by his friends antics. He was excited too, to be honest.

Releasing her grip on the hanyou's shoulders, Kagome spun around to show him her backpack. "Isn't my backpack cool? It's got _flowers!"_

At this, however, InuYasha wrinkled his nose. "Flowers are for _girls_, K'gome. Mine has _Ninja Turtles_." He trumped proudly, turning halfway to prove his point.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Flowers are cooler."

He responded by sticking his tongue out at her, and then silence fell over them as they had a small raspberry war.

It didn't last long. "Looklooklook! Tha's the road we hafta cross to get to school!" She kicked back into a run, dashing right up to the curb to press the button for the crosswalk.

"We can't go over until the sign says so," Kagome informed her friend, loving that she knew stuff to tell him.

"I know how the cwosswok works!" InuYasha shot back defensively, his ears pressed to his skull to try and block out the noise from traffic.

Sesshoumaru caught up to them, finally, and Kagome grabbed InuYasha's hand to drag him backwards towards his brother.

Grinning, the four-year-old slipped her hand into Sesshoumaru's larger, clawed one.

"Mama says we gotta hold hands when we cwoss the woad," she reasoned, smiling cheerfully at the demonic teen.

"This Sesshoumaru does not-"

"Mama says." She demanded bossily, yanking the hand he had tried to pull away. "I don't have cooties anymore, so it's fine."

She readjusted her grip on InuYasha so that she was holding his hand, too, and tugged the brothers to the curb with a smile.

"The light's changed, so we can cross now," Kagome said matter-of-factly, stepping down onto the road.

Sesshoumaru allowed himself to be tugged along behind her, wondering bemusedly at the little human.

InuYasha was snickering at his brother's reaction, absently allowing Kagome to swing his arm as they crossed the street.

They reached the opposite side without incident, and Kagome relinquished her hold on Sesshoumaru's hand, sending the demon a smile as she took off down the sidewalk with InuYasha in tow.

Kagome was grinning from ear to ear. "School's gonna be so much fun! There's gonna be lots a people there, and and we get to learn stuff! Mama didn't tell me what we were going to learn though. She said I had to find out. What do you think we'll learn Inu'asha?"

InuYasha blinked and then shrugged. "I dunno." he stated simply, though he was grinning as well.

"I expect you'll learn basic addition and subtraction along with how to read and write." Sesshoumaru said blandly, finding their ignorance annoying.

Kagome grinned at the cold demon who was only giving them the briefest glance downwards every few seconds to make sure they were still there. Sesshoumaru would allow no one to say that he didn't take care of responsibilities placed upon him.

Even so, he couldn't believe Izayoi had managed to guilt him into walking the talkative children to school. (Technically it had been more along the lines of blackmail, but he'd cut his own arm off before admitting that.)

Kagome dropped InuYasha's hand to run backwards for a stretch, cheerfully swishing the skirt of her new outfit.

"Better hurry, 'Yashie, or we're gonna be late the first day!" She teased, tossing her hair as she spun the next few steps.

Getting dizzy trying to watch her, InuYasha groused back, "Don't call me 'Yashie." But he sped up a little anyway.

If he'd been any other elder sibling, Sesshoumaru might have laughed at InuYasha's reaction. As it were, he allowed himself a slight smirk.

Kagome only giggled in response, grabbing the hanyou's hand to spin him around with her.

Sesshoumaru soon put a stop to the spinning, since trying to keep track of them as they spun was making the teenage demon a bit dizzy himself. Unfortunately, stopping the spinning came at the cost of having to hold the hands of the rather energetic children; being almost pulled double by the force of the children trying to run towards the school.

Despite the children's insistence that they would be late if they didn't hurry up, Sesshoumaru successfully escorted the two to their Kindergarten class at least fifteen minutes before the first bell was supposed to ring. Once they were safely inside the classroom, he quickly let go of their hands and let them mingle with the other excited children. He then quickly left, not wanting to be late for his own class.

"Bye Sesshoumaru!" They called dutifully, not at all put off that when he didn't respond.

Gleefully, Kagome dragged InuYasha around the classroom. "It's gonna be so fun!" She decided again, grinning euphorically. "I can't wait for class to fin'wy start!"

InuYasha was quieter now, strangely subdued as they threaded their way through the crowd of children. He held tightly to Kagome's hand. He could handle Kagome's level of noise, but the barrage voices filling the room were uncomfortable to his sensitive hearing.

Kagome paused her own chatter as she noticed her friend's plight. She squeezed his hand, giving him an encouraging smile.

Not a moment later, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Blinking, she turned to see a young boy with black hair - pulled into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck - with a rosary wrapped around his wrist like a bracelet.

"Scuse me . . . but . . . does your friend . . . have . . . _ears?" _The kid asked, staring at InuYasha with wide eyes.

Kagome blinked and looked from the boy to InuYasha before nodding silently at the child, her shy side getting the better of her again.

InuYasha growled a little and his ears flicked back against his head. "Yeah, what of it?" he snapped at the boy, pulling Kagome back a little. She was HIS friend, and he didn't feel like sharing.

The boy looked astounded. "That's cool," he said, grinning and then he looked over at Kagome. "I'm M'roku. What's your name? You're pretty. Will you be my girlfriend and marry me?" he asked, grabbing Kagome's free hand with both of his.

Kagome's eyes widened in a shocked - and somewhat disgusted - way as she pulled her hand away and hid behind InuYasha. "Ew! No! You have cooties!" she shrieked worriedly.

Even louder than Kagome's complaint was InuYasha's authoritative, "Don't touch K'gome, pervert!" With his free hand, he bonked the other boy solidly on the head.

Miroku was taken aback by the unexpected reaction, gingerly rubbing his assaulted skull, even as a smile spread across his face. "Sorry, I guess. I _don't _have cooties, but I shoulda realized..."

Slightly petulant, and not at all happy with violet-eyed boy, Kagome peeked around InuYasha. "Shoulda realized _what?_" She asked reluctantly, clutching the hanyou's shirt.

Said inu hanyou crossed his arms over his chest, glaring hotly at the human boy: doing a very good impression of an annoyed Sesshoumaru.

Not at all perturbed, the oddly literate child continued sagely, "That you two're an item." Taking it a step further, he pointed out, "You haven't let go of each other once since you arrived." InuYasha might not have completely understood, but he could hear the smugly perverted undertone to Miroku's catty tone.

The confused friends shared a look, wordlessly shrugging to each other.

Miroku noticed the confusion between the two and then put a fist in front of his mouth and coughed, pointing at their hands.

Kagome still looked confused as she looked at her hand that was in InuYasha's. She thought it was normal to hold your friends hands . . . She'd had friends from the daycare she went to, and she held their hands too . . .

InuYasha, however, had a different reaction. He blushed and quickly pulled his hand out from Kagome's, before crossing his arms and glaring at Miroku who now was smirking a little.

"Oh, I see. You're still in denial." he said, his shoulder's shaking a little from holding back laughter.

Kagome, who had been a little hurt by InuYasha pulling his hand away from her, now was confused again and she tilted her head to the side as she looked at Miroku. "In denial about what?" she asked, truly not understanding what Miroku was talking about.

Miroku's eyebrows shot up into his bangs. "You really don't know?" he asked, amazed as Kagome shook her head, and noticing that InuYasha even seemed a little interested. Though the hanyou had pulled his hand out of the girl's, he'd apparently only realized that it meant something; but didn't know what.

Miroku let out a little chuckle. "Why K'gome," he said, mimicking the way InuYasha had said the girl's name. "When two people like each other very much . . . well . . . Dad said something about hooking up and a stork, but they like each other and they become an item." he said, clearly not as knowledgeable as he tried to seem.

Luckily for the little pervert, there was an interruption before the duo could ask any more questions.

"Alright children, it's time to settle down now," A woman's voice lilted, colored with fond amusement. Her entrance to the room had gone unnoticed by most, but as soon as she spoke she had everyone's full attention.

She was lovely. She carried a stern but gentle aura, and at her behest the raucous tamed almost immediately. The class was rewarded with a smile.

InuYasha stared at the pretty woman. She reminded him of his mother, a little. As she smiled, a smile appeared on his face, unbidden, in return.

The woman looked around the class, noting the diversity in her classroom. "My name is Ms. Kikyo. Welcome all of you to your first day of Kindergarten." she said and then went to the front of the room. "On the desks, you will see nametags. If you cannot find your name, come to me and I'll help you find a place to sit."

The desks were actually tables that had four chairs arranged around them so four people could sit at each of the tables. There was a sudden scramble as everyone searched for their name. InuYasha felt someone tugging on his robe and he turned to see Kagome smiling up at him. "C'mon Inu'asha. We gotta go find our names." she said, grinning.

InuYasha nodded and then headed over with Kagome to try and find his name. However, he also noticed that Miroku was following them, apparently unable to find his name on any of the tables they had already checked.

"Don't tell me..." InuYasha griped as he finally caught sight of the familiar shape he knew to be his name. Surely enough, on the other side of the table Miroku plopped himself down with a grin.

InuYasha sat down as well, muttering about 'stupid perverts', even as Kagome slid into the seat next to him, patting his shoulder to console him.

That left one seat at their table, and InuYasha could only hope their other tablemate was less annoying than Miroku. Slowly, the other tables filled up, with the few stragglers going from table to table.

At last, a brown-haired girl sat reluctantly next to Miroku, glancing at each of the table's occupants before averting her eyes to the teacher.

There was a squabble at the table next to them, as two little demon boys were convinced that the last seat at the table was theirs.

"Boys," Ms. Kikyo chided gently, and InuYasha's ears went back of their own accord, even though her disappointment was directed elsewhere.

"This is Bankotsu's seat, alright?" The teacher put one hand on the other boy's shoulder as a triumphant Bankotsu claimed his seat.

"Yours in over here, Renkotsu," she informed with a small smile, guiding the boy to his table.

Ms. Kikyo glanced around the room once, and, satisfied that everyone was seated and where they should be, she smiled. "Now, your first assignment is to get to know your classmates. I'm going to come around the room, and as I do, I'll ask you to stand up and introduce yourselves to the class, and tell us something about you."

She moved gracefully to Kagome and InuYasha's table with a swish of skirts, stopping next to InuYasha first. She rested one hand gently on his head, giving him an encouraging smile when he looked up at her. The boy blinked and blushed a little, standing unsurely, hands nervously fiddling with his firerat robe,

"Uh, I'm InuYasha Taisho... and-"

"Half-breed!" A voice scoffed loudly. "You reek of dog!" Several of the kids joined in the jeering, and InuYasha flinched, wishing to be _anywhere_ else at that moment.

"Kouga-" Ms. Kikyo began, raising her voice slightly.

"SHUT UP!" Kagome's furious voice ordered. She was standing in her chair, fists clenched at her sides. "ALL of you, just SHUT UP!"

She jabbed a finger in the direction of the wolf-demon boy who had spoken first. "Inu'asha never did anything to you, so keep your mouth shut, you stupid meanie!"

InuYasha, as well as just every single one of their classmates, looked to the shy girl in surprise.

"That's enough, everyone." Ms. Kikyo said sharply, her bearing suddenly stern, though her hand remained gentle on the hanyou's head. "There will be NO name calling or harassment of any sort in my classroom."

Ms. Kikyo looked sternly at Kouga and Kagome and then said, "You two will stay in for five minutes during the break with me while everyone else gets to go outside. And if I hear of anyone else calling people names, they can come in and join us," she said, lifting up her head to look at the rest of the class.

Kagome looked completely shell-shocked. She had never been in trouble like this before in her life! She quickly sat down and turned back in towards the desk, her shoulders trembling as she tried to hold back the tears that were forming. She'd only been trying to help InuYasha . . . It was that meanie's fault in the first place. He never should have said something like that.

InuYasha, and many of the other demons, including Kouga, could smell that Kagome was close to crying and while InuYasha looked worried, Kouga looked mildly ashamed. He had actually admired that the human girl had stood up to him in defense of another, even if it was a worthless mutt.

InuYasha sat back down, leaning over to give his distraught friend a hug. "Thank you," he whispered, for her ears only. Like a puppy seeking to console it's master, he nuzzled her tear-dampened cheek with a low whine. He hated it when girls cried.

His comforting worked, though, and Kagome wiped away tears with a small smile as Ms. Kikyo indicated that she was next. "I'm K'gome Higurashi," she said shakily as she stood up, "And I don't like it when people are mean to my friends." There was a fierceness to her statement - even as her voice wobbled under the threat of more tears - and many students decided then and there not to get on her bad side.

Expression blank, Kagome sat back down. Under the table, InuYasha's hand found her own, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. Gratefully, Kagome squeezed back. The rest of the room remained oblivious to the exchange.

"I'm Miroku Houshi," Miroku volunteered before Ms. Kikyo had even reached him. "And I think you're really pretty." He grabbed the teacher's hands dramatically, asking earnestly, "Will you marry me?"

Ms. Kikyo smiled bemusedly and then crouched down to his height. "I'm afraid you thinking I'm pretty isn't enough for me to want to accept your proposal of marriage." she said kindly, sounding more amused than anything. "And don't you think you're a little young to be asking people to marry you?" she asked, leaning forward to whisper softly, just for Miroku.

The other just smiled unabashedly and Kikyo pulled her hands out of the other's grasp before moving to the last member of the foursome at the table.

The brunette stood up, sending a slight glare around the room. She exuded toughness and self-confidence. "My name is Sango Tajiya. I'm gonna be a cop one day. Just like my dad," she stated quite clearly, her voice not wavering at all.

Ms. Kikyo smiled down at the young girl. "Very admirable," she said and then moved on to the next table: the one Kouga was sitting at.

"Kouga?" Ms. Kikyo prompted, tilting her head slightly. InuYasha growled lowly. Stupid smelly wolf didn't deserve the attention.

Oozing arrogance, the little demon stood up with a smirk and a flourish. "I'm Kouga Ookami, 'n Immuna make K'gome my girlfriend."

There was a beat of silence: and then, with one unified intake of breath, all hell broke loose.

"You're gonna _WHAT_?" InuYasha and Kagome shrieked together, one with embarrassed disbelief, the other with blind fury. InuYasha stood suddenly, knocking his chair over in the process, looking as though he was prepared to dive across the room and strangle the little wolf prince. Kagome just gawped at the cocky boy, who flashed her a fanged grin.

"Kouga, that was out of line." Ms. Kikyo reprimanded, glancing around the room. ALL of the children bearing demonic blood, plus a few of the human kids with spiritual powers or sensitivity - like Miroku and Sango - were poised halfway out of their seats, prepared to leap into the melee she had barely prevented.

"All of you, back to your seats!" the teacher ordered exasperatedly. "It's only the first day and already I might have to have a talk with parents!"

Some abashed, some reluctant, and more than a few petulant, the children returned to their previous, less violence-ready positions.

Twitching angrily, the inu-hanyou righted his chair.

Afterwards, Kagome remained seated, blushing horribly from embarrassment, while InuYasha sat, raging quietly to himself. The only thing that calmed him down even slightly was that Kagome reached over and clung to his robe of the fire rat. Neither one really paid attention to the other children's' introductions.

When the introductions were over, Ms. Kikyo passed out a thin booklet. On the front in large letters, was the word, "MATH".

"Now that we all know a little bit about each other, starting tomorrow, after roll-call, we shall begin work on learning our numbers and how to add." Ms. Kikyo said with a smile. "However, seeing as this is our first day, I'll leave the learning for tomorrow. Now, I'd like you to get to know the people at your table better. You'll be sitting with these people for a while until I move your seats. It'll be best if you get to be friends," she said and then went back to her desk, keeping an eye on the room, while giving the students space to chat with their tablemates.

Miroku grinned, sidling up to Sango, the one stranger at the table. "Weeeeeell, the two of us are really the only ones of cons'quence... _un'quanted_," he schmoozed, indicating Kagome and InuYasha with a dismissive wave. "So why don't we focus on getting to know each other more intimately?"

Sango responded with a nervous glance in his direction, before going back to studiously ignoring him, straightening her Math packet.

"Oh lay off, ya stupid lech," InuYasha snapped. He wasn't sure what a lech was, but he'd heard his father use it when perverts had catcalled at his mother. He'd heard several other words at that point, too, but his dad had later been smacked for their use, so he decided they were better left inside his *mental* vocab.

Miroku sighed dramatically, leaning back out of the little brunette's bubble. "Don't use words you don't understand, Yashie," he chided loftily, looking down his nose at the hanyou with his violet orbs half lidded.

"Why you," 'Yashie' snarled, looming forward. His revenge would half to wait, however, because Kagome decided to get hers first.

"Don't call him Yashie," She ordered with a pout, kicking the unfortunate human in the shin. "You'll make him cranky, and then he's no fun."

Both boys gave her surprised looks, equal parts surprise and indignance.

Their quiet tablemate finally broke her silence, snickering cutely into one hand at the other girl's impertinence. Kagome grinned, and giggled along with her.

Seeing that his argument had been overruled, InuYasha sunk backwards in his seat sulkily. He considered pouting, but... Kagome seemed happy, so he decided he'd let it go for now.

"I know we already did the introductions and ever'thing, but... I'm K'gome," the four-year old said with a grin, extending a hand across the table.

"...Sango," the older girl replied, taking Kagome's hand gingerly.

With a wide smile, Kagome tightened her hand into a little shake. "Let's be friends, okay? The boys may act a little funny, but they'll be your friends too!" She pulled a little on Sango's hand, too make sure that her point was acknowledged. "'Kay?"

"Oh," Sango said, a little unsurely. "O-okay."

"K'gome!" A voice called from the next table over. InuYasha's ears went back, and a growl started up in his chest.

Surprised, Kagome looked up from her new friend, leaned partway across the table. Kouga was tilted back in his chair, staring straight at her with blue-blue eyes.

"You're gonna be my girl, okay?" He was grinning widely, exposing sharp little teeth as he waved.

"Nuh-uh!" Kagome shot back, sliding back across the table to duck behind InuYasha's shoulder, blushing terribly.

"Kouga, socialize at your own table, please?" Ms. Kikyo rebuked pleasantly, not looking up from her desk.

InuYasha felt his chest puff up a little. Kouga got told off for trying to talk to Kagome. Served him right. Stupid wolf.

Kagome had entered into an animated conversation of girly things with Sango, so InuYasha was rather content to keep from listening. However, Miroku didn't seem really interested either and had moved his seat around to try and talk to InuYasha.

"So, InuYasha..." The hanyou noticed that the hated nickname had vanished. Hmph. Good.

The human was obviously looking for something to talk about. Since anything would be better than the current feminine squeals about... What were Powder Puffts, anyway? Well, it wasn't something InuYasha wanted to listen to more than necessary, so he obliged.

"D'ya like... Ninja Turtles?" the amber-eyed boy asked lamely, unable to think of anything else.

The human boy lit up, childish grin lighting his features. "Do I ever! Which one's your favorite?" 

And their conversation took off, much in the way the girls' had. This was turning out to be kind of awesome: despite the morning's rocky start.


	3. Chapter 3: Pinkie Promise

**A/N: We're back!**

**H: Did you miss us?**

**C: I missed us! Where'd we go? Oh right, I had College stuffs.**

**H: Yeah, school is distracting. Bu~ut, guess what we have for you?**

**C: THE NEXT CHAPTER! It's an adorably cute one as well with some *gasp* ACTUAL PLOT sneaking in there!**

**H: *cue dramatic music* Bet you're all excited now, right?**

**C: Hehe! Yes, this story ACTUALLY has a plot. Don't look so surprised. Onto reviews!**

**H: Our first reviewer on Chapter 2 was brz! Chibi?**

**C: On it.**

**C: brz - Well . . . Miroku's a lech and it's probably gonna be our running joke that he's a lech even while in Kindergarten. And I actually learned numbers in Pre-K and basic addition in Kindergarten so a lot of this is being based off of Kindergarten experience. And with today's technology . . . I have a cousin who got her first cell phone while in Kindergarten. Relationships aren't far off. (WHAT'S TODAY'S WORLD COMING TO? T-T)**

**H: Yeah, that sounds about right. I think kids' behavior is based a lot on how they are raised, and Miroku was raised to be a smooth-talking lech. XD ^^; Also, I never went to Kindergarten. But for the times, this is about what I would imagine.**

**C: 0.0 You never . . .? Erm Never mind. Next review Hyper?**

**H: ... Yes. Our next reviewer was aras the crazy writer.**

**C: aras the crazy writer - Um . . . Arigato. Here's the update. . . . Anything to add Hyper?**

**H: I'm glad you enjoyed? It must be fun to have energy. XD Who was next?**

**C: Luvandia was next.**

**H: Luvandia - I liked Ninja Turtles too! XD I watched PPG with my sisters, though. And anime shall forever rule supreme! XD As for Rin... Chibi?**

**C: All I can say is . . . Rin does not show up in this story as she has not yet been born. However! All you SesshyxRin fans out there! Do not fear! There will be a . . . *dramatic drumroll* SEQUEL! Where we will bring in all the younger characters that will be missed in this story and maybe a few of the other Inu characters that we just haven't been able to focus on here. I'm not saying who Sessy-kun ends up with though.**

**H: This is big, folks, _I_ don't even know what she has in store for us. =D Next up was InuDemoness1525!**

**C: InuDemoness1525 - Thanks! Here's the next chapter! Hope you find this one to be just as lovable.**

**H: Yep, We're working hard. I'm glad you're enjoying our efforts!**

**C: Up next, BlueForestAngelCat.**

**H: BlueForestAngelCat - ... I know where you sleep, Evan. And no, you *never* update. You set a bad example for me. As for the rest, I think you covered it, Chibi. XD**

**C: I'll . . . not get between siblings. Though I'll definitely keep your Hyper deserving retribution offer in mind. *grin*. And yes, Younger people will not show up until the sequel. Mainly because everyone's just too young in this one for the younger people to really show up in the same context.**

**H: Meh.**

**H: Anyway, next was inusgirllovesmonkeys.**

**C: inusgirllovesmonkeys - Thanks! We work hard at it! :)**

**H: We love it too. 'Tis our baby. =D**

**C: Up next is our final reviewer for Chapter 2: Novalia1001.**

**H: Novalia1001 - *o,o* Wow. Thank you, we will definitely keep working hard! *dazedly staring at the screen with dorky grin***

**C: I really don't have much to say. Thanks I guess. We're working very hard at it.**

**H: And with that, I guess... Enjoy Chapter 3!**

**C: Don't sue us, please. We don't own stuff.**

Chapter 3: Pinkie Promise

Miss Kikyo glanced up from her desk, looking at the clock on the wall for a moment.

"Alright, class. It's time for recess." She waited out the excited chatter that sprung up, smiling leniently. "Mrs. Lyreed is in the hallway, and she'll walk you out to the playground, so everybody line up except for Kouga and Kagome. Be sure to behave for her, and be quiet in the hall."

Kagome made a small whimpering sound and even Kouga seemed to let out a small whine, ashamed to have caused Kagome to be in trouble . . . though it was really the mutt's fault. Kouga wasn't sure how, but he knew that the mutt was somehow to blame.

InuYasha was reluctant to leave his friend, but Kagome put on a brave face and smiled.

"It's okay, Inu'asha. Go have fun." she said, though her voice trembled.

Still, InuYasha was reluctant to go outside. He especially didn't like the thought of her alone with the wolf-boy. After a short second of internal debate, he walked around the table and pulled Kagome into a tentative hug. In her ear, he murmured, "I'll be waiting for you outside, m'kay?" Surprised that he had instigated an embrace, Kagome was too surprised to respond verbally. Instead, she wrapped her arms gratefully around his midriff and nodded against his shoulder.

Then Miss Kikyo came over and smiled at the both of them.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of your friend. Nothing bad will happen to her. I promise." she said.

Reassured, InuYasha gave a small, hesitant smile back before offering Kagome one last comforting squeeze and running out to join Miroku and Sango for recess.

After the rest of her class had been successfully herded out of her room, Miss Kikyo returned her attention to her two detainees.

"I don't enjoy having to keep you both late on the first day," she admitted sternly. "But your behavior this morning was NOT acceptable, and there are punishments for misbehaving."

Giving the shaking Kagome a chance to calm down, she addressed Kouga again first. "InuYasha is your classmate, and saying things like you did this morning is hurtful and uncalled for. I don't ever want to hear you say anything like that to him *ever* again. And you are going to apologize after recess. Understand?" The teacher leveled him with a firm frown; she didn't have to raise her voice to get the reprimand across.

The little wolf demon averted his eyes, replying sullenly, "Yeah, whateber. I get it."

Miss Kikyo nodded in the direction of the door. "Then you may go. Mr. Raime is waiting in the hall to walk you to the playground."

With an apologetic glance over his shoulder, Kouga slunk out of the room.

Kagome looked fearfully up at Miss Kikyo, wondering what her punishment was going to be. She had just been trying to help her friend . . .

To her surprise, however, Miss Kikyo smiled down at her. "While I don't like that you called Kouga names, I am proud of you for standing up for your friend." she said, crouching down to Kagome's level.

Kagome brightened visibly.

"However," Miss Kikyo added, "I can't let people think that I'm playing favorites, so will you keep this a secret for me?" she asked, holding out her pinkie in the time-honored tradition of a pinkie promise.

Kagome nodded solemnly, hooking her smaller pinkie with Miss Kikyo's. "I promise Miss Kikyo." she said and since she was now feeling much more at ease with the teacher, decided to comment on something that had attracted her attention since the beginning of class.

"Miss Kikyo? What's that shiny thing around your neck?"

The teacher blinked, taken aback. "The shiny th-? ...! You... do you mean my necklace?" Miss Kikyo asked slowly, head tilted and brows furrowed prettily.

"Mmhm!" Kagome assented, smiling. "It's real'y pretty." Her teacher looked troubled, and Kagome hoped she hadn't said something to upset her.

"'M sorry, was I not s'posta ask?" she apologized quickly.

"No, no, Kagome. It's fine," the woman assured. "I just... wasn't expecting anyone to notice it." She smiled slightly, and Kagome found herself encouraged.

"Wull... Why not? It's all... glowy," the girl concluded with a vague gesture, nose scrunched as she tried to understand Miss Kikyo's reasoning.

The teacher placed her hand over the glowing thing, but Kagome found she could still see the glow. "Well . . . only very few people can see this Kagome." Miss Kikyo informed, smiling. "Now, why don't you go out and enjoy the rest of recess? I'm sure you'll have some friends waiting for you," she said, gently ushering the little girl out to the hall where Ms. Ravenwood waited to escort Kagome to the playground.

As soon as Kagome was out of sight, Miss Kikyo let her smile drop and went back into the classroom, going to her desk and pulling out Kagome's contact list. Dialing a number on her phone she waited for someone to pick up. "Hello? Mrs. Higurashi? I'd like to talk to you about Kagome," Kikyo said, fingering the jewel that was resting around her neck with a smile. "No, she's not in trouble..."

* * *

InuYasha could never have imagined the level of noise his classmates were capable of when released from the confines of a classroom. He watched in awe as the crowd dispersed with shrieks of laughter, seamlessly melting in with the other children and enjoying themselves near instantly.

Too nervous to join the melee himself, the hanyou hung back by the door. He wanted to wait for Kagome, anyway. The playground looked daunting without his best friend by his side.

As InuYasha stood, waiting for Kagome, he couldn't help as he gazed into the crowd of wild youth, he saw, near the top of the play structure, an older kid, certainly no one he recognized in his class, glaring down at him, one of the girls from his class standing next to him. InuYasha glared right back, not one to back down easily when the sudden scent of wolf pulled his attention back to what he was doing.

InuYasha waited hopefully as Kouga's scent got stronger, but at the same time, a niggling worry started to eat away at him. As close as Kouga seemed to be getting, InuYasha couldn't pick up Kagome's scent anywhere. So when Kouga exited from the door, WITHOUT Kagome, InuYasha couldn't hold back the growls as he glared at the wolf that got her into all this trouble in the first place.

"Hey Wolf-breath! Where's K'gome?" InuYasha snapped as soon as the teacher who had been escorting Kouga to the playground left. Kouga was still standing by the door - like he was waiting for Kagome too - which just ticked InuYasha off even more.

"'S none of your dumb buwisness Mutt-face!" Kouga shot back, glaring at the hanyou, his hands clenching into fists as he turned from trying to see if Kagome was anywhere close to following him to the dog-eared individual before him.

"Is _so _my biss'nus, stupid! K'gome's my friend and **you** got her in trouble, so Where. Is. She?" the red clad boy demanded, crossing his arms over his chest like he'd seen his father do in arguments.

Kouga snorted, tilting his head up to glare down his nose at the hanyou. "Like I'd tell _you_, loser. It's _your_ fault **my** K'gome's in trouble, you useless..." The boy fumbled for an appropriate word, scrunching his nose up in thought. "Useless... jerk! Yeah. Stupid useless _jerk_!" He smiled, obviously proud of his retort.

Fuming, InuYasha glared disdainfully at the ornery wolf.

Thankfully, before sparks could really start flying, Kagome entered into the playground, blinking in confusion to see Kouga and InuYasha glaring at each other.

"K'gome!" InuYasha said happily, seeing his friend wasn't hurt, his ears perking up.

Kagome only had time to smile at her friend before she found her hands grasped firmly by the wolf-demon.

"K'gome, I'm so happy you're okay." He said, grinning down at her, ignoring the growls coming from the less than happy hanyou.

Kagome felt really awkward, but she didn't want to be unfriendly, so she continued to smile, turning her attention to Kouga. "Um . . . thanks . . ." she muttered, looking quickly down at their hands, giving and experimental tug to see if she could free them.

"Hey Wolf-breath! Leave K'gome alone!" InuYasha snapped angrily.

Kouga let go of Kagome's hands to turn back to InuYasha. "Why don't YOU leave her alone? Why'd she want to hang out with someone like you?"

Kagome frowned at Kouga, and opened her mouth to speak when InuYasha's outburst cut her off.

"Well why would she want to hang out with a stupid-head like you?"

"Jerk!"

"Mangy wolf!"

By this point, the two canines were mere inches from each other, glaring daggers, and poor Kagome hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise.

Thankfully, before Kagome could start to cry from being ignored, Sango ran up, giving the little girl the attention she needed.

"K'gome-chan!" Sango called out, waving towards her friend.

Leaving the two stubborn canines to growl at each other, Kagome ran off to greet her friend and talk to Sango who actually seemed interested in what had happened.

"Sango-chan!" The younger girl grinned thankfully, hugging her friend. A glance found the boys still butting heads, which aggravated Kagome to no end. "Let's go sit over there," Sango suggested gently, tugging the stewing Kagome over to the wall where they could converse in peace.

"So what happ'nd with Miss Kikyo?" The brunette asked curiously, tucking her skirt under herself as she sat down and patted the space next to her. She waited until Kagome was seated as well to continue questioning. "Why did she make you stay longer than Kouga?

* * *

"Hey, Kouga!"

The boy whose name had been called turned, ignoring InuYasha in favor of greeting the two boys who had run up to him. "Hey Ginta, Hakkaku," he said loftily, waving.

"We'll settle this later, Mutt-face. Immuna go play on the swings with Ginta and Hakkaku." And with that, InuYasha had been ditched.

Annoyed and somewhat at a loss, InuYasha finally realized that Kagome had moved on.

InuYasha looked around and soon located Kagome with the other girl from their table, Sango. He walked over just as Kagome said, "I promised to keep it secret." she said with a smile.

"Keep what a secret?" The dog-eared boy asked curiously, one ear perking up and the other one drooping slightly in confusion.

Kagome suddenly fixed InuYasha with a look that caused both ears to instantly fold back against his head as a whimper came up out of his throat.

"If you hadn't been spending so much time ar'uing with Kouga, maybe I'd tell you." she snapped, her temper flaring up again as it had earlier during class.

He was reminded of his mother's behavior when his father had done something stupid. There was a strong urge to back down: Kagome's behavior was registering particularly dominant, and the canine part of his nature read, for that one moment, that she was the alpha in this situation.

But, when the rest of his brain caught up with that tangent, any thoughts of submission fizzled out under his annoyance. "He star'td it!" The hanyou defended angrily, eyebrows scrunching together. "I was _wo'wied_ about you and he was...!" InuYasha cut off, looking away stubbornly. "Keh," he scoffed, crossing his arms and trying to make up for his moment of almost weakness by sounding tough. "Whassit matter an'way. Let's jus go _play_... or somethin'..."

Kagome couldn't help but smile a little as InuYasha said that he was worried about her. However . . . she wasn't quite ready to forgive him just yet. So instead, she reached up and grabbed hold of the silver ears atop her friend's head.

InuYasha froze as she grabbed his ears and had to stoop down a little to prevent her from pulling on them. "H-hey! Stop that!" he muttered, though he had to admit . . . he kinda liked it when Kagome pet his ears.

Sango watched with wide eyes. "Can I touch?" she murmured softly.

InuYasha glared at the young girl. "Nuh-uh!" he snarled, earning a sharp tug on his ear from Kagome who sent a quick glare his way before she smiled at her female friend.

"Yeah, but you gotta be real gentle. They're senensesitive." she said with a smile, completely butchering the word 'sensitive' as she tried to wrap her tongue around it.

"That's 'snessnitive'," Sango corrected softly, still entirely off the mark. But neither of the girls really cared, both enthralled with the fuzzy triangles under their fingers. Kagome was practically climbing atop her friend, and it was all InuYasha could do to hold her up.

"Don' I get a say in this?" the hanyou muttered, too busy trying not to get squished to put any real venom in his words.

Kagome grinned. "Nuh uh." she said with a giggle.

Just then, the youngest Lech ever in existence on the planet walked up to the trio. "Oh my, InuYasha . . . Not even in school for a day and you've already got the girl's crawling all over you. Lucky dog." Miroku said with a smile.

InuYasha growled. "What's that apposed to mean?"

Once again, Miroku was saved from having to reply. A cry spilled out over from the sandbox nearby, and all four children immediately turned to the source of the noise, smiles dropped.

Four boys that looked to be probably first/second graders were surrounding a misshapen looking child who towered over all of them. The sobbing giant had been the origin of the sound.

In the time it took Sango and Miroku to look over their shoulders for a nearby teacher, Kagome had already crossed half of the distance with InuYasha's hand clasped tightly in her own.

Never-mind that she'd just had a talking to. Bullying was something that Kagome absolutely couldn't accept. And InuYasha's nose had already informed him that the unfortunate victim in this instance was a hanyou, just the same as himself. Not like he could let Kagome barge stupidly into danger, either.

The hanyou in torment sat unresisting in the sandbox, his hands covering his head as the four boys threw sand, rocks, sticks, - and whatever else they could grab quickly off the ground - at him. He wouldn't have even cried out if one of the rocks hadn't been particularly sharp, causing a cut on the large hanyou's body; one that was bleeding and stung the boy as the sand that was thrown penetrated the wound.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, MEANIE-HEADS!" Kagome shouted, three quarters of the way to the young boy who was having items thrown at him.

All four of the bullies as well as the hanyou looked at the girl in surprise, the items that were about to be thrown dropping from the bullies hands. The large boy's hands dropped slightly, allowing his large blue eyes to peek through his fingers more at the girl who was storming over.

"Well?" The irate girl demanded as she finally reached the sandbox, dropping InuYasha's hand to place her tiny fists on her hips and leveling the perpetrators with her most scathing glare. "Whatuya think you meanies are doing? Apol'jize to 'im!"

In case Kagome's verbal attack wasn't sufficient, InuYasha crossed his arms and added his own glare and a low, rumbling growl. The cowards that they were, the scent of their fear clouded the air almost instantly. Part of his nature was enjoying this immensely: his expression pulled into a smirk as Sango finally dragged a teacher over.

Watching Kagome dish out an imperious tongue-lashing to four very deserving humans was probably the highlight of his day so far.

While the bullies got a harsh lecture from the teacher - who had dutifully taken over her bully-thrashing duties- Kagome went over to the boy who had been getting bullied. "Are you okay now?" She asked softly, her voice entirely different from what it had been when she yelled at the bullies.

The large boy blushed and nodded and Kagome's face bloomed into a smile. "My name's Kagome! What's yours?"

"Jinenji." The boy murmured.

InuYasha walked over. "Why didn't you defend yourself? You're big enough." he said, crossing his arms again and raising one eyebrow.

"I don't like fighting . . ." Jinenji muttered, looking down to the sand beneath him.

"If you don't stan' up for yourself, they won't ever stop," the inu hanyou informed, even as he helped his friend dust the sand from the larger child's shoulders.

"I don't unnerstan how kids can be so mean..." Kagome lamented as she gingerly swept sand away from the cut on Jinenji's arm. Her eyes welled up with tears and she turned to bury her face in InuYasha's shoulder.

Jinenji shrugged. "It's okay . . ." he murmured, surprised that the little human girl was crying. Awkwardly, he patted her back, wanting to somehow comfort her.

"No it's not!" Kagome insisted, frowning. "They shouldn't do that to other peoples!"

InuYasha and Jinenji blinked, looking at Kagome with surprise. That she would be so accepting of them as people... Even so young, they both knew the truth of the world, as much as family had tried to shelter them from it. There were a lot of people out there who saw things in a much different light than innocent little Kagome.

"Kagome, right?" The teacher finally interrupted. "We're going to take Jinenji to the nurse's office now. You and your friend need to be getting back to recess, okay?"

Petulant and prepared to refuse, Kagome was surprised as both Jinenji and InuYasha hushed her unformed protests.

"I'll be okay, Kagome," the bulky horse hanyou assured quietly. "We'll meet again tomorrow..."

InuYasha hugged her closer, saying simply, "C'mon, K'gome."

Kagome frowned and, not to be deterred easily, wormed her way out of InuYasha's grip, going over to Jinenji. "Pinkie promise?" she asked, holding up her pinkie.

The horse hanyou blinked before smiling softly and gently locking his large pinkie with her much smaller one. "Pinkie promise," he said before following after the teacher.


End file.
